A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home by Melissa Dilkes Pateras

A DIRTY GUIDE TO A CLEAN HOME by Melissa Dilkes Pateras, known as the Laundry Lesbian online, outlines “Housekeeping Hacks You Can't Live Without” in an irreverent, but useful manner. She begins with encouraging less clutter, noting “your memories are stored within you and not in your stuff.” Lists of helpful questions (Do I love it? Would I buy it again today if it broke?) and the big clutter culprits (gifts, mugs, towels and bedding, water bottles…) will have readers smiling and nodding in agreement. Her energetic and encouraging tone will prompt readers to get organized and to take action. As Pateras says, “there are big cleans and little cleans. There are deep cleans and everyday tidies sometimes you need one but not the other.” She offers a ton of specific suggestions for cleaning bathrooms, kitchens, appliances, floors, etc. and lists a variety of tools and products to use. Another section of her book focuses on fixing and upgrading, or, as she says “things you thought you had to hire a TaskRabbit to do but you can actually do yourself” (like change a shower head, switching doorknobs, or caulking).  There’s also an entire section on laundry (washing drying, stain removal, ironing) which is followed by one on maintaining appliances. An informative guide.